tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Aug 27 11:17:46 2004

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

*roSya'* Hol muvmeH wot (Re: {'Iv}

MorphemeAddict ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol taghwI']

In a message dated 2004-08-27 1:45:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[email protected] writes:

>    There is no verb corresponding to English "to be" in Klingon. On the
>    other hand, all pronouns (section 5.1) can be used as verbs, in the
>    sense of "I am", "you are", etc. ...
> 
> N.B. "can be used as verbs, in the sense of 'I am', 'you are', etc." NOT 
> "are verbs..."  This description exactly matches how Russian verbless 
> sentences with pronouns work in the present tense:
> 
>     *Kto vy?*          "Who [are] you?"
>     *Vy amerikanets."  "You [are an] American (male)."
>     *On klingonets."   "He [is a] Klingon (male)."
>     *Ona studentka."   "She [is a] student (female)."
> 
> Pronouns can act as copulas in "to be" sentences since Klingon, like 
> Russian (in the present tense) lacks a "to be" verb.  Although most Russian 
> grammarians would say that the verb has simply been omitted in these 
> sentences, you could also say that Russian pronouns "can be used as verbs, 
> in the sense of 'I am', 'you are', etc."  Again, it's a only matter of 
> terminology; it's merely one of several ways of describing what you're 
> hearing.
> 

I think a more productive way of thinking about present tense "to be" in 
Russian is as a zero-verb (rather than as an omitted verb, since there is no overt 
verb to omit), not as a pronoun-as-verb.  Russian allows the same kind of 
sentence with a noun as subject and no apparent verb at all (and in some cases 
the zero verb is indicated in writing by a dash).  Are we to say that the noun 
is a noun-as-verb?  Hardly.

e.g.  Moj koroshij drug - istinnyj borec.  {SuvwI'na' ghaH jupwI''e'}.

using a pronoun it becomes:  

On istinnyj borec.  {SuvwI'na' ghaH}

In the past tense the verb becomes evident:

Moj koroshij drug *byl* istinnyj borec.  {SuvwI'na' ghaH jupwI''e'}

On byl istinnyj borec. {SuvwI'na' ghaH}

Pronouns and nouns are not treated differently in this regard.  To say that a 
Russian pronoun can be used as a verb is to misrepresent the case.

lay'tel SIvten

Back to archive top level